#region Copyright & License

//
// Copyright 2001-2005 The Apache Software Foundation
//
// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
// You may obtain a copy of the License at
//
// http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
//
// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
// limitations under the License.
//

#endregion

namespace log4net.Repository.Hierarchy {
  /// <summary>
  /// Interface abstracts creation of <see cref="Logger"/> instances
  /// </summary>
  /// <remarks>
  /// <para>
  /// This interface is used by the <see cref="Hierarchy"/> to 
  /// create new <see cref="Logger"/> objects.
  /// </para>
  /// <para>
  /// The <see cref="CreateLogger"/> method is called
  /// to create a named <see cref="Logger" />.
  /// </para>
  /// <para>
  /// Implement this interface to create new subclasses of <see cref="Logger" />.
  /// </para>
  /// </remarks>
  /// <author>Nicko Cadell</author>
  /// <author>Gert Driesen</author>
  public interface ILoggerFactory {
    /// <summary>
    /// Create a new <see cref="Logger" /> instance
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name">The name of the <see cref="Logger" />.</param>
    /// <returns>The <see cref="Logger" /> instance for the specified name.</returns>
    /// <remarks>
    /// <para>
    /// Create a new <see cref="Logger" /> instance with the 
    /// specified name.
    /// </para>
    /// <para>
    /// Called by the <see cref="Hierarchy"/> to create
    /// new named <see cref="Logger"/> instances.
    /// </para>
    /// <para>
    /// If the <paramref name="name"/> is <c>null</c> then the root logger
    /// must be returned.
    /// </para>
    /// </remarks>
    Logger CreateLogger(string name);
  }
}